The present invention relates to a network system such as a LAN (Local Area Network) system.
Recently, printers, image scanners, facsimile machines, MFPs (Multi-Function Peripherals) and the like are often configured as network devices, which are interconnected with each other through a network system (e.g., LAN). Such network devices generally installed with a web server function, and configured to deliver web pages.
The web pages delivered through the network devices as above sometimes include pages indicating functions of the network devices. There are cases where functional settings of the network devices are made through the network and/or operation of the network devices is controlled through the network. Web pages allowing such indication, settings and/or control will be referred to as function-categorized web pages hereinafter. Further, there are top pages in which hyperlinks to such function-categorized web pages.
In such network devices, when a plurality of network devices are connected to the network, a device capable of searching for other network devices, and creating an access web page indicating hyperlinks linking to top pages which can be delivered by the detected network devices may be used. With use of such hyperlinks in the thus created access web page, top pages delivered by the other network devices can be accessed easily. Therefore, when a plurality of network devices are used one after another, for example, operability is well improved by such an access page.
The access pages described above only allows access to top pages delivered by respective network devices. Therefore, a user is required to thread from the top page to a function-categorized web page through some intermediate pages.
Further, according to the conventional network device, it is only possible to search for other network devices connected to the network, and the functions of respective network devices are not taken into account. Therefore, according to the conventional network device, a function web page indicating hyperlinks corresponding to a predetermined function cannot be automatically created. Accordingly, for example, although a user intends to use a printer, it may happen that the user mistakenly accesses to a top page delivered by an image scanner.
As such, in the conventionally provided access web pages, extra operations are required to reach the function-categorized web page which has a function the user wishes to use, or corresponding to the function user intends to use, and is relatively difficult or troublesome to access the target web page.